The New Year
by Laynie
Summary: Michael's hopelessly in love with Mia, and it's New Year's Eve. He's determined that this one won't be like all the rest. [AU, one-shot].


Author's Note: 

Not my best work, but I wrote this in two hours tonight simply because I was bored and avoiding homework. It's kind of cheesy and stupid, and I'm not sure if it really even makes any sense, but it's just a silly one-shot deal. Inspired by my love of New Year's Eve, Michael and Mia, and the song "The New Year" by Death Cab for Cutie (I listened to it the entire time I wrote this). AU, Michael and Mia have never gotten together, they just became really close friends...and I don't care that both Michael and Mia are super, super, overly out of character. I said it was cheesy, and I stand by that. Oh, and some of the lines will make more sense if you know the song. I hope at least someone enjoys this.

* * *

Twenty-two year old Michael Moscovitz stood alone with a drink in one hand at the club that night, across the room from his best friend, eighteen year old Mia Thermopolis, the princess of Genovia. He happened to look over at her, and he spotted her with a guy in his early twenties of the tall, dark, and handsome type. She was throwing back her long blonde hair and laughing, and her gray-blue eyes sparkled under the low lights of the smoky club.

The guy she was talking to wasn't her boyfriend, but some random guy who had just started talking to her out of nowhere. It seemed to happen to her a lot these days. Mia had matured a lot in the past years, and it seemed to attract guys to her.

He sighed. In actuality, he had been watching her all night. Who was he kidding? He'd been in love with the girl for the past... well, ever since he could remember. It had been a long time. And it had started off as something small, but now it was this huge thing that consumed Michael's life and it wasn't natural.

She was always taken at the wrong times. Or he was. Taken when Michael would decide that it was the time to make a movie. Single when Michael was dating another nameless, faceless, meaningless girl who was just passing his time slightly more pleasurably. She was unnattainable. And his timing was always off.

But he loved that girl. He loved her more than anything else. More than anything else, he wished she felt the same way. Closing his eyes for a minute, he willed the thoughts of Mia to leave his mind and when they didn't, he took a large gulp of the drink in his hand and swallowed, hard. He'd lost sight of Mia and looked around again.

It was New Year's Eve and she was taken. Her boyfriend, Jason, was lurking around the club somewhere. Michael didn't like the guy much. But then, he never liked the guys she dated very much. It was probably due to the fact that Michael was insanely jealous that they got to call Mia their girlfriend. He never thought of himself as the jealous type, but when it came to Mia, it was like an entirely different ballgame.

Michael caught sight of her again then. She was out on the dance floor and she looked amazing. Simply dressed, but elegant. Black pants and a strapless black shirt, with some classy silver jewelry and black ballet flats. Her long blonde hair was curled and flowed down her back. She was laughing as she danced with Jason, the boyfriend. Having the time of her life.

While Michael stood in the shadows, as usual, pining after her. God, this situation was pitiful, and Michael knew it. Not to mention, all his friends knew it also and made fun of him for it on a regular basis. They all were determined that he just needed to go out there and find a new girl, one who was into him, and forget all about Mia. But Michael knew that there was no other girls for him. Just her. It had to be Mia.

He sat down at the bar beside his longtime friend and bandmate, Felix, who had just finished gulping down a shot of tequila. "Hey, man," Felix said. "You want some? Next one's on me..."

Michael shook his head. "No, thanks."

Felix laughed. "Come on, man. You've got to loosen up. It's New Year's Eve," he continued, shaking his head. He leaned forward and Michael cringed at the lingering smell of alcohol on his breath. "Forget about her, she's taken. You can't have her right now," he said in a more hushed tone, which was difficult over the loud music in the club.

Michael rolled his eyes.

"Come on dude, that chick over there is totally checking you out," Felix said, nodding his head towards a tall, skimpily dressed platinum blonde woman. "She's hot. And you need to get over this thing you've got for the princess. It's not good for you."

"For the last time, Felix, stop trying to hook me up with random girls at bars, please. It's really getting on my nerves." Michael was beginning to get annoyed with his friend's antics. "If you think she's so hot, go talk to her yourself."

Felix raised his eyebrows. "Fine. Your loss, man." With that, he walked away and over to the woman, leaving Michael alone at the bar again.

He wasn't alone for long, though, before someone came down and sat beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," said a familiar female voice, and Michael turned around to see himself gazing into those sparkly grey-blue eyes and that smiling face, flushed with a tender shade of pink. "What are you doing over here? It's New Year's Eve, let's have some fun!"

Mia grabbed Michael's hand and pulled him up and over to the dance floor. The fast song finished up right as Mia began dancing with Michael and a slow song started then. Smiling shyly, Mia put her hands on Michael's shoulders, hesitantly. "Is this okay?" she asked, looking up at him. She had to speak loudly in order to be heard over the club's loud, throbbing music.

He nodded in response, and put his own hands around her lower back, drawing her in closer to him. Despite the smokiness of the club, he could smell the coconut-scented shampoo she used and he breathed it in as he rested his head on her shoulder, inches from her neck.

The perfection of it was unbearable. Michael didn't think he could hold in his feelings any longer. No, it didn't matter that she was with Jason. He'd probably be shot down if he told her, undoubtably. However, he thought it was worth the risk of rejection in order to get the tremendous weight of these feelings off of his chest.

They swayed together to the music as if one person, united. Together. Or maybe it was just the way Michael felt. Either way, the song ended much too soon, and Mia pulled away from Michael, stepping back. Desperately, Michael grabbed onto one of her hands and held it loosely in his. She was staring at him intensely, obviously surprised with his act of grabbing her hand as she pulled away, and he held her stare with his own deep brown eyes.

The moment was interrupted by her boyfriend coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her away from Michael. She dropped his hand as if it were on fire and closed her eyes. "Hey babe," Jason murmured, burying his head into her hair and kissing her head.

Mia flashed an apologetic look at Michael, who was still staring at her, and turned around and into Jason's arms, wrapping her own around him. "Hey yourself," Michael heard her utter back, in what he thought was an adoring tone. She kissed his cheek lightly, and he released her from the embrace. She turned around again to face Michael, still holding Jason's hand. "Um.. I guess I'll see you later?"

Michael nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. "Sure."

"Thanks for the dance," she said, smiling slightly, beginning to walk away with Jason.

"I love you," Michael said in response, his mind racing a million miles an hour.

He didn't know where it had came from. He just couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't keep it inside.

He wasn't even sure if she even heard him say it, because Jason was pulling her away from him. The music was loud, she probably hadn't been straining to hear him because she probably hadn't expected him to say anything after that. He doubted she'd heard him at all. No, she was much too interested in that blonde, spiky-haired soccer player of hers, Jason.

"Happy New Year," Michael muttered to himself, sarcastically. "I love you too, Michael." What the hell had he expected her to say? She was dating Jason. She had no idea her best friend was in love with her. He was an expert at hiding it. However, he'd at least been hoping that she'd gotten the subtle clues he had been giving her as of late. Apparently not.

Michael sat down at any empty booth away from the dance floor, so he couldn't see Mia anymore. He didn't want to think about her. For awhile, he just sat there. Lost in thought. And then, as the clock neared midnight, he needed to get out of there. He just needed to get away. The smoke, the alcohol, the people kissing, the couples... He just couldn't take it anymore.

He pushed through the throng of people and towards the front door of the club, not noticing that Mia had taken notice of his attempted departure and left the dance floor to follow him. When he reached the door, he flung it open and walked out into the cold December night on the New York street.

Running his hand through his hair, Michael paced back and forth for a moment. Then, he stopped and leaned on the railing that divided the club's entrance from the bustling street, clutching his head between his hands.

"Michael?" A voice said softly behind him, so softly he almost hadn't heard it. The music of the club reverberated more quietly in the background still. It was that familiar voice again. Hers. The voice he heard in his dreams every night. The voice of the girl he'd always love, but never have.

He looked up from his place, but didn't look back at her. She took it as an invitation to approach him closer, and she came to stand beside him at the railing. She didn't speak, and neither did he.

"So this is the new year, hey?" she said quietly, breaking the silence. She didn't look at him.

"And I don't feel any different," he replied, his voice hoarse.

"Me neither," said Mia shakily, and she turned to look at him then. Her eyes were intense and determined, though Michael detected a hint of Mia's usual softness in them.

Michael wrinkled his forehead in confusion. What had she meant by that?

Faintly, they heard the countdown to the new year begin inside the club. People chanting the numbers as the clock ticked.

Ten.

She took his hand in hers hesitantly. "Michael, you're my best friend. You always have been and I know you always will be. You know that. You know how much I appreciate the fact that you're always there for me. No matter what," she said, eyes on him. "You mean so much to me..."

Nine.

Michael took a step closer to her, taking her other hand.

Eight.

He could smell her perfect scent again, and she was so close to him he could almost feel her warm breath dance across the skin of his neck.

Seven.

"You know after that dance?" Mia started.

Michael nodded mutely.

She smiled.

Six.

"I thought I heard you say something as I walked away," she said, slowly. "I'm not sure if I heard you right or not." She gazed into Michael's eyes, her own intense eyes softening. "You... you... Did you mean what I think you meant?"

Five.

Michael couldn't take it anymore. He broke their eye contact and looked away, willing himself not to give in. She did have a boyfriend, after all. A boyfriend who was right back there in the club, probably wondering where his girlfriend was at that moment. Probably not suspecting anything of his girlfriend's best friend.

Four.

"Michael?" she asked, questioningly.

He looked back at her and forgot everything else he was thinking about. Her eyes were shining up at him and a delicate smile played across her lips. Mia's perfect blonde hair flowed in the cool December breeze and tickled her blushing pink cheeks. And she was perfect.

And it was time. He couldn't take it anymore.

Three.

He pulled her closer to him and bent his head down to her level, enabling him to press his lips against hers in a hesitant manner. When Mia didn't pull away, to Michael's surprise, he gained confidence and pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. And she didn't pull away.

And the New Year fireworks exploded around them in the background. A few people spilled out of the club and onto the pavement and watched the skies, not noticing Michael and Mia standing there in the cold. Showers of shiny confetti spilled onto the pavement and into the air around the outside of the club.

Neither of them noticed anything else. Nothing else, absolutely nothing. Because for that moment, they were completely immersed in one another.

Gasping for breath moments later, what seemed much too short of a time period, they broke away and Mia stared at Michael, wide-eyed. Both wore identical confused expressions. Neither of them showed any signs of regret.

Mia stepped away from Michael and turned back to the railing, leaning her elbows against it and breathing in deeply.

Michael came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pushed aside a piece of her blonde hair. "Happy New Year," he whispered into her ear gently.

She smiled in response. "I guess you did say what I thought you said earlier."

He looked confused. "What?"

"Back there in the club," she continued. "You said something to me, and I wasn't sure I'd heard you correctly. Or if I knew what you meant. Now I'm pretty sure I did." She broke apart from their embrace and faced him, her expression turning serious and her gray-blue eyes clouding over slightly. "And I have something I need to tell you."

Michael prepared himself for the letdown. At least he'd had those few moments of knowing the feeling of her lips against his. And they were pure joy. His only regret was that he'd never be able to experience that feeling ever again. She was about to tell him she didn't feel the same way. After all, she was dating Jason.

"Michael," she started.

He interrupted her. "It's okay, I know."

She looked confused. "How could you possibly?"

"Mia, all the girls I've ever dated have been meaningless. They were there to pass the time. Nobody wants to spend their time alone, and it's better to spend it with someone if you can't have the one you long to have." Michael paused. "You're the one I long to have. I'm in love with you, Mia. And I had to tell you, because it's just killing me. I know you don't feel the same way about me, but I had to tell you. I just couldn't keep it to myself anymore."

Mia stared at him blankly, and then began to smile. "How about you stop interrupting me?"

Michael was taken aback, but said nothing, resigning himself to his best-friend fate. Though he wasn't sure if he'd even have that anymore. Admissions of unrequited love weren't usually the best thing for a guy's friendship with a girl.

She smiled, soft. "I love you too, Michael," she said.

And then to Michael's surprise, she grabbed his perfectly pressed black collared button-up shirt and pulled him into her, kissing him with more passion than he'd ever been kissed with. When she released him, he could barely even breathe.

"You know what you said about those girls you've dated being meaningless to you just now?" Mia smiled. "You just described what Jason is to me. Except he's not a girl, of course. I'm surprised you couldn't tell. I've been in love with you all this time. It's always been you, Michael."

"I had no idea," said Michael, quietly.

"It doesn't matter now," said Mia.

He kissed her softly and, holding her hand tightly in his, they turned their heads to the sky and watched the rest of the fireworks.

"So this is the new year," Michael sang, softly.

They smiled.

* * *


End file.
